a narrative adventure in spirituality

A Holy Wild

I am a fan of Mark Buchanan’s writing. But if I knew nothing else but the title of his book The Holy Wild, I would still be impressed. Take two great words, make a great phrase, and you can spark a great deal of imagination, even before the reader takes the book from the shelf. I find the phrase to be an excellent description for the season of Lent.

I have been reading in the Gospel of Mark and am drawn to Mark’s report of the temptation narrative. This passage has the holy wild all over it. Mark records this episode like this; “And He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan; and He was with the wild beasts, and the angels were ministering to Him.”

Robert Gundry points out that this is a triple recognition of who Jesus is from the creaturely world. “From the demonic realm through the animal kingdom to the angelic sphere.” I can’t help but notice that there are no specific temptations. No dialogue between Jesus and Satan. No scripture quotation. Still I like it. Satan and angels. Wilderness and wild beasts. Simple and Dangerous. Holy and Wild.